


Sunflower (What's Up, Danger?)

by FrozenHearts



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Familial Relationships, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hatred, Identity Reveal, Male Friendship, Minor Character Death, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-09-24 08:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17097296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenHearts/pseuds/FrozenHearts
Summary: Jefferson cared about two things in life: his wife and his son.He didn't expect to care for Peter Parker. Spider-Man even less so.





	Sunflower (What's Up, Danger?)

**Author's Note:**

> I love Chris Pine's Peter Parker so this is about his relationship with the Morales & davis family members. Mostly Miles' dad, since Peter in Miles' universe was 26 when he died and that's young af

Jefferson Davis cared about two things in life: his wife and his son. Being a nurse, Rio was awake at all hours and he came to appreciate the time he got with her, especially when he began working as a cop. His son, Miles, artistic in his every endeavor and always on about some new thing the kids were doing- vine and snap-chat and sometimes Instagram but it put his work out there in a way that was better than watching his son tag every sign, wall and billboard on the way to school.

They didn't always see eye-to-eye, but if asked, Jefferson would say he loved his son to the moon and back. What he did not love, however, was Miles' fascination with Spider-Man. While doing good, the man decided it was best to put on a one-sie and bypass the law entirely. He mad a police-man's work more dangerous than it already was and with the benefit of hiding behind a mask so he could get away with it.

But he had to be lying, if he didn't love seeing his son's eyes light up every time Spider-Man was on television and the news. If Miles didn't excitedly explain how the guy re-directed a missile hitting New York one day only to make sound effects that represented Spider-Man throwing a car at Doctor Octopus the next day. Miles was inspired by Spider-Man and while Jefferson didn't like it, he didn't want to take that away from him.

"Dad?" Miles would ask.

"Yeah, son?" was always his answer. He knew what was coming, the curious glint in Miles eye a tell-tale sign, along with the furrowed brow and slight frown on his face.

"Do you hate Spider-Man?"

At this, every time, Jefferson found himself hesitate. Rio would give him a calculated look, while Miles would be patiently waiting, the look on his face more expectant as the seconds passed.

"He is a vigilante, Miles," he would find himself saying, "He puts my officers lives in more danger then they already are. While he is trying to do right, he's going about it the wrong way."

And so Miles would be disappointed, and Rio would be disappointed but not surprised. It ended up becoming a cycle until Miles avoided talking about Spider-Man altogether.

\------

Peter Parker was a man Jefferson knew well. Standing at six feet, with perfect blond hair and bright blue eyes, he was what many would call America's Sweetheart if the title didn't already belong to Star Trek actor Chris Pine. Honestly, the resemblance was a little uncanny, as Peter even sounded like him; a deep voice with a reassuring note and breathy tones in between. He met the man when saving him from getting mugged in an alley and their friendship took off from there. Every day, he'd see Peter Parker running around with books and papers, and every night he'd see Spider-Man flinging himself through the streets.

It was the fifth time Jefferson and his fellow cops had to rescue Peter from a group of thugs that he finally asked the question.

"Why is it that we keep having to save your chops?" Jefferson said, "You can't get to your classes without causing me grief?"

"My obvious charms and good looks?" Peter joked, raising an eyebrow as he took back his papers. Jefferson stole a quick glance at what he could make of the chicken scratch- compounds and atoms and glucose, hydrogen and carbon and all that science stuff he just never was going to understand.

"I have a feeling your obvious charm and good looks are what's getting you into trouble," Jefferson pointed out. Peter scoffed, the tell-tale signs of a blush on his face as he gathered his belongings. As he started babbling about how "I'm not all that great looking" and "really, I'm pretty sure mirrors break when I look in them" and all that bullshit, Jefferson had an inkling the kid's looks got him into half the trouble he found himself in. No ordinary grad student studying chemical engineering of all things ever seemed to attract as much attention as Peter Parker did.

"All I'm saying is that I don't really think I'm that big a deal, officer," Peter winked playfully, "Tell Miles and Ms. Morales I say hello!"

"She says to call her Rio, Peter," Jefferson laughed, clapping his shoulder, "You stay safe now, okay?"

Peter nodded, a bright smile on his face as he exited Jefferson's office and practically skipped out of the station, already late for class but not caring one bit.

If it wasn't for Miles constantly badgering him about Spider-Man, Jefferson thought Peter Parker was going to be the death of him.

\-------

"I saw your little blond friend at the emergency room today,"

Jefferson raised an eyebrow at his wife. Digging a finger into his ear, he asked, "Excuse me?"

Rio crossed her arms, "The blond kid you guys are always getting out of trouble?"

Oh, right. Peter. For the past few days, Peter had virtually disappeared- he didn't see him walking down the street, he didn't see him running into a school building and he hadn't seen him struggling to write a four page paper in a coffee shop during the wee hours of the morning. Miles had asked a few times, only to be disappointed when Jefferson had to say he didn't know anything.

"Peter? How's he doing? What happened?"

Rio shrugged, "He wouldn't say. Only that he's okay. Came in with a lot of bruises and some lacerations, but we fixed him up okay."

"'Fixed him up okay'?" Jefferson felt his face turning red as his voice rose, "Rio, what if something worse happened? What if he died?"

"But he didn't," Rio assured him, "Peter is a good kid- as well as a grown man. He can take care of himself."

Jefferson bit back his reply, scrubbing at his face with his knuckles. Peter was just like Miles in some aspects- bright, funny and too kind for this world. Who Peter was... nowadays that was rare. He strove towards his goals and made sure to take failure with a grain of salt. His smile was wide and his eyes filled with wonder as if every day he was waking up for the first time, seeing things in a new light. To have someone like that around his son was a blessing and Jefferson wasn't about to lose him.

"Was it a gang?" Jefferson grunted.

Now it was Rio's turn to be confused, "What?"

"That beat Peter so bad he showed up to the hospital!" Jefferson blurted, "Was it a gang?!"

A beat of silence.

"Peter said it was nothing." Rio sounded upset, her voice low and careful, "That he could handle it, since Spider-Man could."

Spider-Man. Of course it all boiled down to a no-good vigilante that wasn't always there to save people. Spider-Man couldn't be there one hundred percent of the time. The police had people on call twenty-four seven to make sure things like this didn't happen. First Miles, with his constant questions and admiration, now Peter, willingly getting beat up by gang members because "Oh, Spider-man does it! It's cool!"

"Let me know when Peter gets out of the hospital," Jefferson wrapped his wife up in a hug, squeezing her close, "He and I are gonna have a little talk."

\---------

Rio must have done what Jefferson asked, since Peter avoided him for the next week. He'd come home to see Peter helping Miles with his science homework, only for the man to jump up and bolt out the back door. He'd stop by the coffee shop, only for the barista to hide Peter behind the counter. His teachers, his coworkers, anyone who knew Peter seemed to be helping him hide.

"Listen, Miles, Peter is not in trouble," Jefferson explained over dinner, "I just want to make sure he's okay."

"But Spider-Man was there, right?" Miles said around a mouthful of mashed potatoes, "So he's fine!"

Jefferson stopped just short of banging a fist on the table, instead choosing to tighten his grip around his fork.

"Miles, son," Jefferson said through gritted teeth, "Spider-Man is breaking the law. If he claims to want to help he would have been there when Peter needed help. Every time. Not just now- when he got held hostage, when he was mugged- where was Spider-Man then? Nowhere."

Miles rolled his eyes, "Peter is twenty-six, you know."

Jefferson nodded, "I do know. He's twenty-six and you're fourteen. You're both too young to idolize people like Spider-Man because it will only end in disappointment when he doesn't show up one day."

"You don't know that he won't show up, Dad!" Miles scowled.

"Did you not just hear me?" Jefferson's voice rose, "Peter was just attacked by a gang and he expected _Spider-Man_ to come save him! That is not okay!"

Furious, Miles put his form down and got up from the table, his chair screeching along the linoleum. Jefferson sighed, scratching his head as he watched his son dump his half-empty plate in the sink, feet stomping all the while. A resounding bang made him flinch and Jefferson found himself sitting alone at the table, a plate of mashed potatoes and carrots getting cold in front of him as he wondered what went wrong with this conversation.

An hour later, despite how much he knocked, Miles refused to come out of his room.

"Miles, I understand you like Spider-Man," Jefferson said, "I understand the appeal- you want to do amazing things and change the world."

Through the door, he could hear Miles shuffling around, something falling with a muffled curse.

"...But waiting for Spider-man to fix everything is a dangerous mind-set," Jefferson continued, "While it's fun to think of superheroes and costumes, I don't want you to get hurt."

Jefferson listened as Miles moved around his room some more. He could hear Miles muttering under his breath, singing along to some song he always had on his headphones. It took a few minutes, and Jefferson found himself shifting his weight; did he do it wrong? Did Miles really hate him for this? He knew they never saw eye to eye on the idea of Spider-man but he just wanted to know his son was safe, that he didn't have to worry about being in danger or relying on...

Relying on something he believed in. Miles believed in Spider-Man because he thought Spider-Man was good. And in a way, he was. A very roundabout way, but still. And Jefferson couldn't fault Spider-Man for trying to help and inspire people to do better.

Jefferson just didn't want Miles to get hurt like Peter did, but Miles seemed stuck in his ways.

The click of the door pulled Jefferson out of his thoughts and he found himself with armfuls of Miles as he hugged him, face pressed into his shoulder as he stood on his toes to reach. The headphones sat around his neck and Jefferson could hear the poppy tune of that song Miles enjoyed, something about sunflowers or a flower of some kind. But Miles was here, he was listening. And Jefferson was going to try everything he could to keep Miles safe and happy.

"Wanna watch the T.V.?" Jefferson asked.

Miles grinned, "Sure, Dad. Can we invite Peter?"

"Of course."

\-------

_"Neighborhood hero Spider-Man reportedly passed away due to unknown injuries-"_

_"Peter Parker revealed to be Spider-Man upon his death-"_

_"Dead at twenty-six, Peter Parker and Spider-Man are one and the same-"_

Jefferson flipped through each channel and every time, the reporters said the same thing.

Spider-Man was dead. Peter Parker was dead.

At twenty-six.

Dead. Beacuse he was dumb enough to go above the law. He was dumb enough to think people needed him beyond the police. He was dumb enough to think he could handle it. At tweny-six. All for what? According to the television it was because of a radio-active spider. Sticking to walls and sensing danger at abnormal levels before anyone else could.

Because, Jefferson remembered, he watched his uncle get shot as a child. Because he lost his parents so young. And he didn't want anyone else to go through that, Jefferson realized. Peter took up the Spider-Man identity to protect those from fates similar to his. To keep them safe and make sure they didn't go through what he had.

Jefferson care about two things in his life, he realized, as he found himself standing at Peter's grave, seeing his face plastered in every paper and on every billboard. Those two things were his wife and son. As Jefferson paid a visit to the Parker household, offered his condolences to May and Mary-Jane, Jefferson realied he didn't expect to care for Peter as much as he had.

Spider-Man even less so.


End file.
